Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he phoned Mesut Ozil to back the Arsenal midfielder’s decision to quit the German national team over what he felt was “racism”.

The controversy has caused uproar in Germany after Ozil released an explosive four-page statement on social media slamming German football officials, media and fans for mistreating him over a picture taken with Erdogan – who has been accused of human rights abuses – in London before the World Cup.

The defending champions crashed out the tournament in Russia at the group stage after defeats against Mexico and South Korea, and the 29-year-old feels he was made a “scapegoat” by the German Football Federation (DFB) and some of the country’s politicians.

Ozil, who lifted the 2014 World Cup, was born in Germany but has Turkish roots, and his decision to retire from international football has been warmly received in Turkey.

“On Monday night I spoke to Mesut. His attitude in the statement is completely patriotic, it is absolutely praiseworthy behaviour,” Erdogan said, in quotes published by state news agency Anadolu.

“It is not possible to accept this kind of racist, Islamophobic attitude towards a young man who gave and added so much to the success of the German national team. This really cannot be accepted.”

“I kiss him on his eyes,” Erdogan added, using a Turkish term of affection.

The government in Ankara has long campaigned against what they say as increased Islamophobia against immigrants integrating into Europe.

“He had been playing s*** for years,” Hoeness told German daily newspaper Bild. “He last won a tackle before the 2014 World Cup, and now he and his s**** performance hide behind this picture.”

Ozil’s decision has split opinion among fans in Germany, some of whom Ozil claimed racially abused him and insulted him and his family on social media – and in the stadiums of Russia – for his World Cup performances.